Safety marker



Nov. 2, 1943. c. D. SCANLON SAFETY MARKER Filed Feb. 17, 1941 INVENTOR. CHARLES 0 SCANLON ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 2,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY MARKER Charles D. Scanlon, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of one-third to Roscoe J. Arnold and one-third to Rodney B. Taylor, both of Los Angeles, Calif.

Application February 17, 1941, Serial No. 379,263 4 Claims. (01. 40- 125) My invention pertains generally to safety markers, and more particularly to markers used on highways to indicate wet paint, pavement repairs, etc.

At present it is customary to use small wooden tripods or larger wooden barriers to indicate the presence of dangerous spots in the highway such as those caused by repairs, etc., but the smaller tripods are not easily seen and are readily broken, while the larger barriers present a real hazard to an automobile which may accidentally strike them. Furthermore, the tripods must usually be made up for each job, while the barriers present considerable of a storage and transportation problem.

It is therefore a major object of my invention to provide a marker which is readily visible, yet which causes no damage to an automobile if the latter strikes it.

It is another object of my invention to provide such a marker which will return to its upright position after a glancing blow, and which may be dropped from a moving truck and assume an upright position.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a marker of this type which may be stacked so as to require a minimum of storage space, and to be easily transported.

These and other objects of my invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof, and from the drawing illustrating that form, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view of my improved marker;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the base thereof, taken at 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view partially in elevation and partially in section showing how the markers may be stacked; and

Fig. 4 is a view of the bottom of the marker taken at 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, it will be seen that in the form of my invention illustrated herein, the marker consists of a cone shaped body ID which is provided with an annular base I I having small feet or pads l2. Since the only purpose of the body ID is to present a large visible area, the cone is preferably formed of a relatively light weight material which has sufficient. resilience to return to its original shape after it has been deformed. I have found that a very suitable and economical material for this purpose may be obtained by using the fabric of old automobile tires from which most of the rubber has been removed, the small amount of rubber remaining acting to seal the fabric against moisture, and also providing a certain amount of resilience for the body. The body l0 may be built up of several thicknesses of such fabric, or one thicker piece may be used, the only requirement being that sufficient stiffness be secured to insure the bodys retaining its normal shape. In forming the body It), I prefer to leave a small vent hole l3 at the apex of the cone, since this not only simplifies construction but also has a definite purpose, as will be described later.

At the bottom of the body I0 I provide a relatively heavy annular base H which may be vulcanized or otherwise securely fastened to the body. To prevent any injury to a car which strikes it, or to the base I l itself, the latter should preferably be formed of a soft resilient material, and I have found that old automobile tires may be very profitably used to furnish this material also. By cutting strips from the tires so that each strip consists of one or more layers of fabric covered with rubber, these strips may be wound around the bottom of the body ill to form the base II. To add weight, more rubber is left on the strips used for the base ll than on those used for the body [0, and when a base of suflicient size and weight has been formed, the whole may be vulcanized together, using some new rubber on the outside if that is necessary.

While I prefer, for reasons of economy and convenience, to form both the body I0 and the base H in the manner just described, it will be apparent that new materials instead of reclaimed materials may be used throughout if that is desired. In either event, however, I prefer to employ a relatively large amount of fabric in the base I I, both to decrease the expense and also to prevent the base from being too live.

On the under side of the base H, I provide a plurality of pads or feet I 2 which hold the base above the surface of the highway and permit the marker to be placed on freshly painted surfaces without danger of smearing. The feet l2 may be integral with the base II, or may be applied to it later, and in addition to preventing smearing of freshly painted surfaces, they keep the bases separated a slight amount when the markers are stacked.

One of the features of my improved markers is that a number of them may be stacked as shown in Fig. 3, and when this is done a minimum of storage space is required. Because of the vent hole IS in the top of the body l0, air is easily expelled from the body as itdescends over the v body of the marker below it; and while theoreticaily all of the air could escape out around the base, in actual practice the rough handling and need for instant separation of the markers make it inadvisable to rely on this. In addition, the vent l3 makes it easy for a warning flag or sign to be supported by the marker, and hence an additional safety feature is provided.

In ractice, the body Ill may be painted red and any special warning such as "School" may be printed on it. These markers are readily visible from all directions, and their ease of location makes them highly suitable in painting traflic lanes, etc. Because of their resilient construction, the markers will withstand considerable abuse, and maybe used for a long length of time, carried from job to job, and easily stored. It will be seen that their use is not restricted to highway applications, but they may be used,

wherever a highly Visible marker is needed, as for example, to indicate boundaries and runways of airplane landing fields. Another advantage of the resilient construction shown is that when the markers are nested, the pliability of the upper sections of the cones permits a person to lift five or six of the cones at once by merely grasping the outer or top cone with a very firm grasp.

While I have shown and described, a form which is fully capable of achieving the objects and advantages set forth, it is to be understood that changes may be made which do not depart from the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A marker of the character described, consisting of a tapering hollow body of substantially uniform thickness formed of resilient sheet material, and a relatively heavy base secured to the lower marginal edge of said body and projecting laterally therefrom'to provide an extended support to stabilize said marker in upright condition, said body being open at its lower end and unobstructed to admit of the markers being nested.

2. A marker of the character described, consisting of an annular base formed with an inner conical wall, and a hollow conical body formed the lower opening in said body being unobstructed to admit of the markers being nested.

4. A marker of the character described, consisting of an annular base formed of banded strips of rubberized fabric having an inner conical wall, and a collapsible hollow conical body formed of rubberized fabric material of substantially uniform thickness secured at its lower perimeter to said conical wall providing an interior conical chamber arranged to receive a similar marker body in nested relation.

CHARLES D. SCANLON. 

